Moores fails to deny KP rift

Peter Moores has turned down the opportunity to deny the scale of the rift that has formed between him and England's captain, Kevin Pietersen, following the exclusion of Pietersen's predecessor, Michael Vaughan, from next month's tour of the Caribbean.

Moores, whose methods have been criticised by Pietersen since the day he took over the captaincy in August, could be forced out of his job before the teams depart for the West Indies, as the ECB's director of cricket, Hugh Morris, steps in to arbitrate in the escalating row.

Speaking briefly to The Sun, Moores was given the opportunity to play down the seriousness of the row, but instead stated: "I hope you understand that I can't really comment at this stage. I think I'll take a rain-check on that."

Pietersen has reportedly said he will resign the captaincy if he is not allowed to have his own way, and when Moores was asked if he could continue to work alongside the captain, he responded: "No comment".